Rabbit Island

All along the Rigolets channel at the eastern end of Lake Ponchartrain are several islands that provide enough solid ground to build a railroad track along the Gulf of Mexico coastline, between Pearlington, MS, and New Orleans. One of the most prominent islands is Rabbit Island, shown below on the map in red letters.

 

 

A map from 1893 showing the railroad track crossing over the Rigolets

 The L&N Railroad Track, back around the turn of the 20th century, provided access to a number of island communities that were primarily groups of fishing camps. That area is still home to a dozen or so fishing shacks, but the ravages of hurricanes and their associated storm surges have destroyed many of those camps, and only bare spots of ground show where the camps used to be. 

 

 

2019 Aerial Photograph (Google Earth) showing the train track crossing over.

Looks like it has some pretty nice beaches in some areas

 There is a small bit of land bordering the Rigolets, however, the 500 acre "Rabbit Island" that at one time had its own post office. Nobody could figure out why Rabbit Island had its own post office, given the fact that it was barely populated and that mostly on the weekend. Then came the great revelation, and the mystery of the Rabbit Island Post Office was solved. 

Click on the following copy of a Times Picayune editorial from many years ago to find out.

 

So Rabbit Island had a post office because the Postmaster there was promoting it as the place for children across the nation to send letters to the Easter Bunny every year. 

 

According to several people commenting on Facebook, there were hundreds of full time residents on Rabbit Island up until Hurricane Katrina. For many years, the train went right across the island and would stop for passengers and drop off mail and newspapers. Many people would visit the hunting and fishing camps on the island and before that was a big hunting/fishing club that had a place with full-time caretakers. It is a favorite fishing and hunting spot for many New Orleans residents. 

One camp in particular was inhabited by a couple who picked crab meat for a living and would supply visitors with what they needed. The husband was referred to as the Mayor of Rabbit Island, and they got their mail delivered by train up until Katrina, the Facebook comments went on to say. 

 

One former resident remembered two movie theaters on the island at one point, a house where, during Prohibition, one could buy liquor if you had the right connections, and plenty of stories of bears, nutria and, of course, rabbits. 

In 1963 and 1964 I rode the train across the island several times, not even knowing I was visiting Rabbit Island as I traveled between Bay St. Louis, MS, and New Orleans to go to my dentist every so often. 

 

After the hurricanes ravaged many the camps, some of them still had one or two walls standing and furniture and framed pictures left out in the open.  Many of the camps were owned by prominent New Orleans residents, including one by John Chase, the political cartoonist.

 

 

The Hurricane Katrina storm surge went right over Rabbit Island up into the Pearlington, Miss., area.

The post office is no longer there but the island has become a favorite anchorage for folks cruising up and down the Gulf Coast. It is also home to the Rigolets Seaplane Base. 

 

 

See also:

Anyone for Old-Fashioned Mail? By Polly Morris

 New Orleans East Communities